One Laptop Per Child

1
One Laptop Per Child Algebra 1 in Simple
English WikiTextbook/Moodle

• Can a bunch of math teachers really write a whole
  math textbook?
• Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the OLPC Laptop Project?
• What is the latest news in the OLPC Laptop
  Project?
• Who is organizing this project?
• Where did this idea come from?
• What is a Wiki-Textbook?
• What is a Moodle?
• How is this project organized?
• How will the project be improved and evaluated?
• What will it look like when were finished?

What Ive been doing since last year
2
What is the OLPC Laptop Project?

• Started development in 2000 by Nicolas
  Negroponte, former head/founder of MIT Media Lab
  and Wired Magazine (younger brother of John
  Negroponte)
• Will be mass-produced for approx. 100 for sale
  to developing world governments for K-12
  education
• Current cost approx. US 180
• First mass-produced laptops are being shipped
  starting Dec 14th

• Features
• Linux operating system (open source)
• wi-fi (mesh network)
• 500MHz processor
• 128MB DRAM
• 500Mb Flash Memory
• Self-powered via crank/pedal
• Can do everything except store massive data

3
Latest News on the OLPC(X0) Laptop

• for sale November 12th
• 200 delivers a laptop to a needy student
• 400 delivers 2 laptops
• One to a needy student
• One to you
• http//www.laptopgiving.org/

4
OLPC Roll-out Map New Version
Green Pilot Countries (first round) Red
Post-Launch countries (second round) Orange
Expressed interest at Ministry of Education Level
or Higher Yellow Seeking government support
5
Who is organizing this project?

• Lisa Gehman Thorne
• Teacher, Math and Computer Applications at West
  Hollywood Community Day School, LAUSD
• Creator of www.HSTutorials.net
• B.S. Mathematics, UCLA
• M.Ed. Mathematics Education UCLA

6
What is a Wiki-Textbook?

• Wiki is server software that allows users to
  create and edit the same Web page from any
  computer on the Internet.
• Wikipedia is the most famous wiki, but its not
  the only one.
• A Wiki-Textbook uses that technology for a group
  of people to write a textbook.
• Our textbook will be written using Wiki, but that
  is not where students will use it. They will use
  it on a Moodle.
• Our book is currently hosted at en.wikibooks.org
  , but will be moved to simple.wikibooks.org so
  that it will be near other projects written in
  Simple English.
• I will demonstrate how to add content at the end
  of the presentation.

7
What is
?

• Moodle is a free, Open Source course management
  system (CMS). It can
• Give assignments,
• Keep track of student progress,
• Facilitate communication between students and
  with the teacher,
• automatically grades multiple-choice assignments
  and tests.
• You can download and use it on any computer
  (including webhosts)

• It can scale from a single-teacher site to a
  50,000-student University.
• All work doesnt have to be on a computer to use
  a Moodle. It is an organizational tool.

8
What will our
eventually do?

• Non-Hosted Version
• Organize the curriculum for the student
• Provide
• problems,
• tutorials, and
• games to teach the content
• Allow students to correct their work
• Provide self-correcting tests and quizzes
• Provide a curriculum for students whose teachers
  dont know how to teach Algebra

• Hosted Versions (Phase 3)
• Hosted by volunteer teachers all over the world
• Teachers can change the curriculum order to meet
  their district guidelines
• Teachers can invite foreign students to join
  their regular class
• Teachers can host an all-foreign class

9
Who is going to do What and When? Phase 1

• Everybody and anybody
• Put word problems and assemble standard problems
  into order of difficulty onto the wiki-textbook,
  concentrating on the first 3 - 4 chapters.
• Submit suggestions for a domain name.
• Incorporate all problems for which tutorials have
  already been published on HSTutorials.net.
• Pursue grant money/institutional funding for a
  stand-alone website.

• Lisa Thorne and a few volunteers
• Decide on a domain name for our project.
• Once the first 3 - 4 chapters are finished, they
  will be posted on a Moodle anyone can use.
• Until we have funding, the domain name will
  redirect to extra server space for one of my
  websites (probably www.ThorneSculpture.com) .
• Pursue grant money/institutional funding for a
  stand-alone website.

10
Who is going to do What and When? Phase 2

• Everybody and anybody
• Test-drive the Moodle themselves or along with
  their students.
• Keep writing word problems and ordering standard
  problems until we finish the bare-bones version
  of the textbook.

• Lisa Thorne and a few volunteers
• Post chapters on the Moodle as they are
  completed.
• Implement a ratings strategy (Read The Wisdom of
  Crowds)
• Standard and word problems
• Difficulty (low, med, high)
• Importance to topic (low, med high)
• Word problems
• Language complexity
• Tutorials
• Speech clarity
• Language simplicity
• Download speed
• Helpfulness

11
Who is going to do What and When? Phase 3

• Everybody and anybody
• Rate problems and tutorials on the moodle.
• Tell their friends and neighbors.

• Lisa Thorne and more than a few volunteers
• Record tutorials
• Teach/facilitate an actual class of international
  students

12
What will it look like when were finished?

• Heres the current mock-up of the student/user
  interface http//www.hstutorials.net/olpc/olpcmath
  index.htm
• Heres an example of a narrated tutorial in
  simple English http//www.hstutorials.net/olpc/exa
  mple_tut_1.htm
• These links are both at the top of the page of
  http//www.hstutorials.net/olpcmath.htm

13
Can a bunch of math teachers really write a whole
math textbook?

• Sure, why not!?!
• Read The Wisdom Of Crowds by James Surowiecki
• It suggests that our book could be significantly
  better than any book made by a small group of
  experts.
• Other scientists routinely collaborate in large
  numbers on large projects
• 450 scientist credited for the top quark theory
• Linux operating system continues to be written by
  volunteer computer programmers

14
Can a bunch of math teachers really write a whole
math textbook?

• Most of us compose example problems for our
  classes every day.
• Publishing a textbook is risky, but writing one
  is not.
• Online textbooks are easier to write because they
  can always be corrected.
• These students are better off with our imperfect
  textbook than without.

15
Frequently Asked Questions

• What does Simple English mean?
• How is this project connected to OLPC?
• What about wiki-vandalism?
• What about controversies over curriculum order?
• How do I participate?
• Can I take a leadership role?

16
What does Simple English mean?

• Simple English is also called Basic English
• BE850 is a list of the necessary 850 English
  words for effective communication. It was
  developed by Charles Kay Ogden.
• BE1500 is a longer list.
• You can enter text at http//www.online-utility.o
  rg/english/simple_basic_helper.jsp and it will
  automatically place hyperlinks to Wiktionary
• You can practice writing in Simple English by
  contributing or editing articles in
  Simple.Wikipedia.org
• You can avoid the issue by just writing math
  problems without words.

17
How is this project connected to One Laptop Per
Child?

• Its not.
• Its potential is even bigger than that.
• Our website is for anyone in the world with a
  basic English vocabulary.
• It is how I got the idea. At the ISTE conference
  in 05, Negroponte asked for teachers to start
  developing content.
• It could be used by any school that didnt want
  to buy traditional textbooks (even yours!)

18
What about wiki-vandalism?

• Wikis can be vandalized, but administrators can
  always restore them and lock out URLs. (Note
  Wikipedia cannot be edited from LAUSD schools for
  this reason.)
• Students will work the course through the Moodle,
  which is not vulnerable to vandalism.

19
What about controversies over curriculum order?

• This textbook can easily be turned into several
  textbooks. For example, we could have
• one that teaches polynomial factoring after
  graphing lines (like McDougall/Littel)
• and one that teaches polynomial factoring first
  (like Dolciani)
• There is no reason to be thrown off course by the
  small things we disagree about.

20
How do I participate?

• Go to http//en.wikibooks.org/wiki/OLPC_-_Algebra_
  1_in_Simple_English
• (or link through www.HSTutorials.net)
• Register (so we can communicate)
• Start adding problems!
• Spread the word
• Blogs
• Letters to the editor in education magazines
• Department meetings
• Math cadre
• I will now show you just how easy it is!

21
Can I take a leadership role?You betcha!

• Make this presentation to other teachers.
• This Powerpoint can be downloaded from
  http//www.hstutorials.net/olpcmath.htm
• Modify the presentation with my blessings!
• Write an article about it for a teaching
  publication
• Talk to teachers in other subject areas about
  starting their own Simple English Wiki-Moodle
  Projects
• Celebrate imperfect progress!
• I am specifically looking for people who want to
  make this presentation to math teaching
  organizations in other states.